Why students cheat

(in their own words as well as those of others)

Helen Smith

Jim Ridgway

Abstract

This paper presents findings from a questionnaire and interview study of student
cheating in H.E. Williams (2001) contends that there are two main reasons for the
proliferation of cheating, and for plagiarism in particular: the increased use of
assessed coursework, and rapid advances in technology that have led to
information being readily available and not always traceable to its source. Only a
few authors, such as Ashworth et al. (1997) and Le Heron (2001), have identified
changing patterns of assessment as a contributory factor in cheating. Motivation
theorists such as Dweck (2000) and Anderman & Midgely (2004) suggest that
students’ goal orientation provides underlying reasons for some students
choosing to cheat.

The student sample for the study was drawn from one UK university, where 159
students across three programmes completed anonymous questionnaires and 10
volunteered to be interviewed. Questionnaire data were analysed using SPSS,
and interviews through content analysis. The paper focuses on the student
perspective, presenting findings that provide an insight into the most frequently
self-reported behaviours, the reasons chosen to explain cheating, the perceived
impact of university deterrents and the student view of how to discourage
cheating. A notable result is student perceptions that academics are unwilling to
investigate cheating behaviours. Results will be of interest to academics and
administrators who seek to reduce opportunities for cheating.

Williams (2001) contends that there are two main reasons for the proliferation of
cheating, and for plagiarism in particular: the increased use of assessed
coursework, and rapid advances in technology that have led to information being
readily available and not always traceable to its source. Only a few other authors,
such as Ashworth et al. (1997) and Le Heron (2001), have identified changing
patterns of assessment as a contributory factor in cheating. The answer to
student cheating is not however as simple as reverting to unseen examinations;
evidence from the USA and Australia demonstrates similar rates of self-reported
cheating in both coursework and examinations, despite examinations being the
most frequent mode of assessment (McCabe et al., 2001, Marsden et al., 2006).

This paper reports a selection of the results from a larger study in which students
completed anonymous questionnaires, and students and academics from the
same programmes were interviewed. The focus here is on the student
perspective, presenting findings that provide an insight into the most frequently
self-reported behaviours, the reasons they cite, the impact of university
deterrents, and some student views on how to discourage cheating.

This paper was submitted to the International Integrity & Plagiarism Conference which ran between 2004-2014. The paper was peer reviewed by an independent editorial board and features in the conference proceedings.